Luggage with built in lock for securing luggage to an immovable object and against the opening thereof

ABSTRACT

A luggage piece which has an internal compartment with a zipper closure, a pulling tab and a pair of carrying straps. One of the straps is secured at one end to the luggage and at the other end has a shackle device attached thereto. A lock is fixedly secured to a second location on the luggage. The strap is configured to allow passing of the disconnected strap through an immovable object. The shackle is sized, shaped and configured to pass through an opening in the zipper tab. Thereby, the luggage is capable being tethered to the immovable object and thus becoming itself immovable and the contents in the internal compartments of the luggage are secured against theft simultaneously.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to luggage and, more particularly, toluggage that is securable to an immovable object using existing carryingstraps of the luggage.

Luggage, particularly of the backpack variety, typically comes with apair of back straps which can be dunned over one or both shoulders forease of carrying. Typically, such luggage has a criss-crossing zipperwhich traverses the entire backpack and allows dividing it into twoconstituent parts, for ease of access. Luggage of the backpack style istypically of a size that can be carried on the back and therefore easilyprone to being pilfered because it can be carried with one hand andquickly removed unobtrusively.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provideluggage, particularly of the type that includes carrying straps, wherethe carrying straps serve dual functions. One function is to enablethreading the strap through an opening in an immovable object, forexample, a leg of a desk or through the arm rest of a chair, and thenlocked back to the suitcase, so as to make it impossible (or at leastdifficult) to remove or walk away with the backpack.

The other objective of the invention is to provide and use the samemechanism to also lock the zipper of the backpack, to thereby providedual functionality of locking the contents within the backpack andmaking removal of the backpack difficult.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a backpack with at least one of thestraps being configured to serve as a locking strap and zipper lock.

FIG. 2 shows some more details of the lock and the manner in which thezipper tabs can be locked thereto.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a carabiner style lock.

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIG. 3 using a combination lock.

FIG. 5 shows the embodiment of FIG. 3 using a push cylinder lock.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a photograph of a carabiner style combination lock.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the backpack of the inventionlocked to an immovable object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the typical backpack 10 which has a centrally locatedzipper 12 with two zipper tabs 14, each with a tab opening 16therethrough. The locking tabs 14 can be moved from one side to theother side of the backpack, in well known manner.

The backpack 10 has a pair of left and right shoulder straps 20 and 22.The shoulder straps 20 and 22 have upper distal ends each of which issewn or otherwise fixed to the body of the backpack 10. The shoulderstrap 20 is similarly sewn at its other distal end, at the bottom of thebackpack 10 as shown.

The right side strap 22 has at its opposing distal end a pair of holes22A and 22B. The strap at that location may be reinforced as compared tothe rest of the strap, for example, it may be constituted of a metallicrectangular piece of metal 24 that is strongly secured to the strap 22.The lock shackle 26 can be passed through those holes 22A and 22B, andthen inserted into the openings of the aforementioned zipper tabs 14.

A lock 30 which may be a pad lock operated either with a key or as acombination lock, is sewn or otherwise secured to the bottom of thebackpack, for example, by means of holding bands 32, 34. The shackle 26which passes through the strap and also through the zipper tab(s) canthen be inserted into the lock, thus locking the strap and zipper tabsnear the bottom of the backpack 10. In this position, the straps can beused in the conventional manner.

As seen in FIG. 1, both straps 20, 22 can be adjusted in a length, inconventional matter, except it must be assured that the length adjustingmechanism for the strap 22 can not allow it to be opened in a mannerwhich might defeat its being locked to the lock 30.

As shown in FIG. 8, in typical use, a traveler will use the key 36 tofree the strap 22 and then thread the free end of the strap 22 throughthe chair arm rest 42 of the chair 40, or through an opening in anyimmovable object, and then re-lock the strap 22, rendering the entirebackpack 10 immovable. Thus, a traveler can easily lock the backpack tothe chair in which he is sitting or while waiting in an airport andallow himself to comfortably fall asleep without fear that somebodymight actually walk away with the backpack or rummage through or pilferits contents.

The invention is not meant to be limited to its precisely describedembodiments, as it would be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthere are many offered manners in which the strap can be locked to thebackpack. Also, the entire lock might be concealed within the body ofthe suitcase with access provided only for the shackle to be insertedinto the concealed lock.

As noted above, many different locking mechanisms are available, as thepresent invention is not limited to the use of a pad lock style lockingmechanism. Thus, in FIG. 3, the strap has connected to it a hookingstyle carabiner lock 50 which comes with a spring loaded locking arm 52and with a locking mechanism 54 to be described. The distal tip 56 ofthe carabiner lock 50 can be used to thread the zipper tab 14 andthrough a hook 58 which is a part of the backpack 10. The hook 58 can bemetallic or made of strong cloth or the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lock 54 is a combination lock. In FIG. 5, thelock is a push cylinder lock 62 that has a push pin 64 that isinsertable into an opening 66 as shown in FIG. 6. A carabiner style lockwith a combination lock is shown in FIG. 7.

In accordance with another embodiment, the strap 22 can have affixedthereto one half of a buckle style locking device, where thecomplementary portion of the buckle is affixed to the backpack. Thebuckle style lock can be of the type which is described in U.S. Pat. No.7,357,008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference. One example of such lock is shown in FIG. 3 of the U.S. Pat.No. 7,357,008, where one end of the strap is connected to the bottom ofthe backpack and the other hand connected to strap 22. In this style ofa buckle lock, a string which is threaded through tabs 14 can beutilized to lock the zipper tabs to the buckle.

Still further, it is not necessary that the locking mechanism beprovided at the bottom of the backpack, as it can be just as easilyprovided at the other distal end of the strap, near the top of thebackpack. Also, a locking mechanism can be provided on both strapsincluding strap 20 and strap 22.

A similar buckle style lock is also described in U.S. Patent ApplicationNo. 2007/0226964, which published Oct. 4, 2007, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference. The lock for the bucklestyle embodiment can be either of the type that uses a key or which usesa combination lock or both as described in the incorporated by referencedocuments.

It should be appreciated that the locking strap can also be used to bethreaded through the handle of another piece of luggage and then throughthe immovable object, so as to lock two or more articles which requiresecuring against theft.

The locking mechanism described herein is not necessarily limited toluggage and certainly not to backpacks and can be applied to any and alltypes of equipment which require securement. For example, rather thancomprising straps at the rear of a backpack, the locking element may beinstalled at one end of one of the two handles typically provided inladies handbags. Thus, the handbag may be secured against both theft andunwanted access to its contents.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein.

1. A luggage piece, comprising: a luggage body with an internal compartment and a zipper closure for said internal compartment, said zipper closure including a pulling tab with an opening passing through said pulling tab; a first carrying strap having a first end fixedly secured to the luggage body at a first location thereon, and a second end; a shackle device provided at the second end of said strap; a lock body, fixedly secured at a second location on the luggage body, in spaced relation relative to the first location, and wherein; said strap is configured to allow the threading thereof through an immovable object, and said shackle being sized, shaped and configured to pass through said opening in said zipper tab, whereby said luggage is cable of being tethered to said immovable object and contents in said internal compartment are secured against theft.
 2. The luggage piece of claim 1, including a locking mechanism in said lock body.
 3. The luggage piece claim 1, wherein said luggage is configured as a backpack style luggage body, and includes a second strap useable with said first strap to enable said luggage to be strapped to a person's back.
 4. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is operable by a key.
 5. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is operable by a combination key
 6. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said shackle is provided in the shape of a carabiner with first and second portions that are joined at a pivot and with a carabiner locking mechanism that is configured to lock the first and second portions in a closed position.
 7. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner locking mechanism is lockable with a combination cylinder.
 8. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner locking mechanism is lockable with an insertable key.
 9. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner is secured to said strap, at the second end thereof.
 10. The luggage piece of claim 9, including a hook forming said lock body, and said carabiner being lockable to said hook.
 11. The luggage piece of claim 10, wherein said carabiner is configured to be threaded through said hook.
 12. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said locking mechanism has a push cylinder that is configured to lock the first and said portions of the carabiner to one another.
 13. The luggage piece of claim 1, including a plurality of zippers and corresponding zipper pulling tabs. 